The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-04
GREAT RAILROAD BUI1oIllia.
I Scene of Busting Activity Ia Mort
western Dakota.

letter from White Earth to the ST. Paul
pfoueer-P-ess says: Just beyond this point,
and eighty miles west of Minot, the traveller
finds himself at what railroad men call "the
front. y or the end of the track of the extern
sion which the Manitoba Railway Com
many is now making to Great Falls, Mont
70 speak more accurately, this was the end
If the track Yesterday, but tonight that
noint will lie five miles further westward,
and by tomorrow yet five miles further
From Minot here the work has been in pro-
DRESS since the first week in April From
now on it is proposed to complete five miles
If track each day, thus achieving the great
est feat ever attempted in the way of rapid
railway construction. From here to Fort
Ruford the distance is a little over sixty
miles, and it is the intention to have the road
omen to that point by June l. Thence to
Great Falls the distance is 40S miles, and
trains will in all probability be running to
that point before the middle of September
It can readily be surmised that the ac-
complishment of this gigantic enterprise re-
ouires little less than an army of workers,
and that is what one finds here. The num-
her of men now at work is 5000, and the
number of teams 8 ,000 With this force it
is hardly to be wondered that the dirt is fly
ing at lively rate. From here to seventy
4 miles beyond Fort Buford there is one I'M
broken series of graders camps Fifty of
these camps can be seen from one point some
distance beyond White Earth. By June
between 3,000, 900 and 1000, 900 cubic yards
of earth will have been taken out, and by
the time Great Falls is reached the amount
will aggregate not far from 10, 100000. On
the Canadian Pacific during the whole of
last summer the amount of earth handled
was only 100000 cubic yards, and this
was considered remarkable piece of work.
A few figures will serve to give a clearer
conception of what is involved in the con-
struction of five miles of railway track in
one day. A rail is 80 feet long, and there
are consequently 352 to the mile, or 1,760 to
every five miles. As each rail weighs 900
pounds, the amount of steel handled in one
day aggregates 1,056,000 pounds. 1t takes
2,640 ties to the mile, or 1920 per day
Thirty-six 200-pound kegs of spikes are
used to the mile. There are 80 ''spikers" to
every fire miles of track, each man of whom
drives $40 spikes per day, which, at the av-
erage of three blows to the spikes, gives
$3.50 blows per man per day. A mile of
rails takes 1,40S bolts, which are handled by
"A ''bolters," Or 503 each per day. To avoid
delays in the progress of construction by
reason of rough country, it is the intention
of the contractors to work five gangs of
men in hour reliefs during portion of the
time Work will begin at o'clock in the
morning, and the darkness will be scattered
by the thousands of torches.
With such an army of men and teams at
work far from the centres of civilization,
and in totally unproductive country, it can
be readily seen that the task of securing
and distributing supplies is one of enormous
magnitude. Indeed, there is little doubt
that greater executive ability is required in
this than in almost any other department of
railway construction in the Far West. Here
at White Earth is, for the present, the head
quarters of the supply train, consisting to-
day of twenty cars filled with every con-
ceivable thing necessary for man and beast
There is grain, -four, canned goods of all
sorts, butter, hams, sugar, wagons, harness.
plows boots and shoes, pipes and tobacco, in
fact, nothing is lacking. Every day sees
big hole made in the stock, and every day
sees the hole replenished by incoming trains.
Day before yesterday $1,000 bushels of oats
were sent out by wagon and yesterday
5000 bushels, all for distribution along
the line for a distance of forty
miles. From here on the trail along the line
is marked by one continuous stream of
freighters' teams distributing supplies to
the various camps. The other day herd of
40 head of cattle was driven in and it
seemed that there at least was enough meat
for some time to come. A rapid calculation,
however, showed that it would furnish only
10 pounds to the man. Already 100000
pounds of -four and 1000 bushel
of oats have been purchased. Low
ers of baked beans will learn with alarm that
the supply of that luxury is about exhaust
ed. A letter just received from one of the
largest wholesale firms of st. Paul states
that if the demand is to continue through
out the summer as large as it now is it will
be necessary to import from Europe. They
say they have now secured all the beans that
can be found in the United States, and that
they have only enough to last this army
here for two months
Another interesting feature of this train is
the the hospital cars, where the laborers,
suffering from disease or accident are cared
for by regular physician, assisted by sew
contribution of &C. day from each laborer
employed.